


Please stay

by Criscpi



Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Love Confessions, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26069971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Criscpi/pseuds/Criscpi
Relationships: Sander Driesen/Britt Ingelbrecht, Sander Driesen/Robbe IJzermans
Comments: 20
Kudos: 59





	1. A red dot

"Hello? Hey, honey! Of course I'm waiting for you at the usual place... no, but... how can you not come?  
But what do you mean a girl can change her mind ... everyone can change his mind ... but at least warn me... yes yes, okay I understand, bye bye, see you. If I don't change my mind."

Sander throws the phone on the coffee table: it was always like that with her, a thrill killer. And Sander liked it. It was like being on a roller coaster: of course, they both knew that wasn't the  
healthier way to be together, but they had too much fun and Britt was incredibly beautiful.  
Tomorrow Sander would sulk all day long and she would come back to him suddenly and stay together in and out of bed until morning.  
As he drank his beer, he thought about the night that had been thrown away, but at the same time he was already anticipating the victory of the next day.

Suddenly, like a lightning bolt of lightning, a boy sits down quickly in front of him:  
"Please, please, I need help; let's pretend we know each other for five minutes and then I'll get out of your hair."  
Sander is stony: he couldn't imagine what that gentle-faced boy could have done, and besides, it never happened to him before he had a meeting with someone who behaved as if he were a thief...

"Okay, I'll play along, but tell me what's going on..."

The guy sits comfortably in his chair, hands crossed as if he's about to confess to the worst crime ever committed.

"Sure. Excuse me for smiling at you in the meantime, but we have to pretend we're having fun, right?  
The thing is I'm supposed to be seeing someone, a guy I met on a dating app... don't judge me ok? It's not easy to find someone these days... anyway; we were supposed to meet here but when he came in and I saw him... here.... no."

"Exactly what do you mean, no?"

"He retouched the photos. It's not a question of beauty, but I can't stand lies."

Sander listens to him carefully: that boy is very serious about lying...  
Sander gets as close as he can as if they were exchanging a secret and says..:  
"Ok, but let me find out who he is."

"So, you see that guy with long, black hair? And the purple sweatshirt? Okay him. Now while you're looking for him in the crowd, I'll show you the pictures he sent me."

The guy starts looking for the pictures while Sander turns around and looks at the guy in question under the pretense of calling the guy to order...  
When the waiter arrives, Sander gets a beer for his new drinking buddy too.

"Yes... one for..."

"Robbe"

When Robbe offers the phone to Sander to look at the photos, Sander opens up the  
mouth... 

"Come on, admit it. If he lied to me about the pictures, he could have lied to me about a lot of other things. I don't even want to see him."

Sander tries to dampen Robbe's conviction:  
"Come on, Robbe, there are dozens of reasons why he lied...  
Don't get me wrong, I don't judge its use, but you have to take these possibilities into account too, right?"

"Yes, I know the online risk is high... but...  
In my circle of friends, everyone goes out with girls. I'm the white fly of the group and I still haven't found...”

Sander feels a lot of tenderness for that guy: after all, he's just looking for someone to enjoy his days with... like him with Britt...

"Hey, are you telling a complete stranger that you're looking for great love?"

Robbe blushes, and Sander realizes he's hit the bull's-eye.  
"Let's just say I'm sick of relationships that last less than a season."

"Yeah... “  
Sander thinks of Britt, his roller coaster for a year...

Robbe gets up

"Thanks for the company ..."  
"Sander"

"Sander thanks for the help and the beer... lucky the girl who's with you, you're a good guy... now the guy seems to have found company... see you next!"

"Hey sorry but who says I'm waiting for a girl?"

Robbe nods his finger at Sander's mobile...  
"It's you two, isn't it? Nice couple. Bye!”

Sander's alone again with half his beer to finish. Look at the picture of him and Britt and think back to what Robbe just said: Is it really so wrong to lie? Is it really not enough to have fun? They were young and cute, what was the problem?  
He didn't want to think about it. He finishes his beer and decides to call it a night on the couch.

"That boy already paid the bill Sander."  
"Uh well, if you see him, thank him for me."

Really a mystery, that Robbe.

The next day everything went as planned:  
Sander had spent all morning and part of the afternoon in front of the computer to finish a project that was keeping him busy for weeks; while he still had the pencil between his lips and his hair all ruffled he had kept his phone away and in silent mode.  
He knew Britt would text him, and he also knew he had to hurry or she would arrive before he was ready and fresh out of the shower.  
When Britt arrived, they said nothing, they started kissing greedily and ended up not getting out of bed doing everything they had learned to do together that was about sex.

When Britt, naked, with her blonde locks caressing her shoulders, falls asleep in Sander's bed, instead of following her in her sleep, Sander picks up the phone and opens Instagram: he dials Robbe and looks for the guy from last night...  
too hard to find him that way.  
So he downloads the most famous dating app. He makes up a name and looks for the guy.

"There he is!"  
Robbe was exactly how Sander thinks: in his profile photos he looked exactly like yesterday, no retouching. Take it or leave it seemed to mean.

Sander closes the app and lies down next to Britt.  
He was happy to know that the guy from yesterday was real.  
He kissed Britt on the forehead and finally  
He's asleep.  
A few hours later, Britt wakes up first:  
"Hey, sweetie, you okay?"  
"Mmmmmmm...? Yeah, sure. Why?"  
"You were complaining in your sleep, but I couldn't understand what You were saying... It's the first time you've ever talked in your sleep."

"I don't know, Britt... it’s weird... now come here... “

"We have to hurry, I have to get home, I have my first meeting with the tutor...  
For the internship, remember?"

Sander couldn't remember: Lately he was quite distracted... but so as not to fight, he grazed a lock of her hair and whispered...  
"I'll do as fast as I can."

When he says goodbye to Britt by kissing her until the door closes, Sander feels the  
need of a shower, but first as usual, check his phone.  
There's a red dot on the dating app.

"Hey there! I saw you looked at my profile... if you liked it, why don't you put up some pictures too? I'm waiting for news, Robbe."

Sander brings his hand to his mouth.  
"I fucked up. What do I do now?"

Sander will have to make something up now and without thinking he decides to put some photos before he gets in the shower.  
When he's drying his hair a new red dot...

"Well, mysterious, you're mysterious... you have a beautiful body... and this is coming from a statue restorer... so I know what I'm talking about."

Sander couldn't not answer 

"Thanks for the compliments. And forgive me, but I just signed up and I don't know exactly how things work."

"Hey, don't worry, we've all been rookies on this app...  
"If you need to, don't worry about it and just ask, okay?"

Sander walks around the room:  
What the hell is he doing?  
This is not going to do any good. And yet he's so curious to get to know Robbe and that seems like a good opportunity.

"Would you like to talk a little?"

Sander, what the hell are you doing?

"Would you like to talk?"  
"Well, if you want to, why not?  
"Ok, I'm ready.”

Sander and Robbe start chatting. The thing that upsets Sander one minute later  
minutes is the ease with which he feels himself talking to that boy.  
To be the first time the two boys  
They talk for several hours and about many things school work free time... then Sander realizes that it's time to go back to the project...

"Hey, thanks for the talk."

"Whenever you want if I'm not working, I'm available."

Why don't tell him it's him? He feels like an idiot. Talking to Robbe is something he's never felt before.  
He feels free to finally be himself, but why not really tell him who he was talking to? Why not be 100% honest what would change?

Their online chats are getting more and more frequent.  
Sander feels good when Robbe is there listening to him.  
This game is getting too dangerous.  
Sander could ruin everything. He has to find a way to tell Robbe the truth.  
As soon as possible. Losing a friend before he's even a friend is too much even for him; in this "thing" it's not about fun... Sander knows perfectly well.


	2. What I have done?

"I can't, sweetie, really... this internship is killing me... but the tutor seems to be good."  
Britt gets up and starts to get dressed.  
"You seem to fit in very well with this course."  
Sander throw her on the bed next to him and kisses her , Putting yourself on top of her:  
"Yes, I was right to choose it and thank you for recommending it... “  
"I knew it was a suitable course for you, I have my sources inside the university...and I know  
Some courses "  
Sander stands up and helps Britt get on her feet...  
Britt makes her tail and Sander kisses her neck  
"When it's all over I promise I'll stay in this room for a week Sander..."  
"Uuuuuuuuuu I can't wait... have a good trip back baby, give me another kiss"

After a day with Britt spent on the bed between laughter and sex, Sander decides to go for a drink at the usual place.  
He watched the red beer spinning in his glass.  
It had been two months since he downloaded that dating app and he and Robbe were talking to each other practically every day.

"Look who's here...how are you?"  
Robbe was in front of him and Sander heard a strange noise coming out of him.  
He had to tell him, he didn't want to hurt him for any reason in the world... he was very fond of Robbe, very, perhaps too fond of him.  
"Hey there, how are you?"  
Robbe sits down at Sander's table when he suddenly gets up...  
"Sorry, maybe you're waiting for someone, your girlfriend..."  
Sander smiles softly at him, suddenly he realizes that it was a long time since he smiled like that.  
"No tonight I'm just alone, I should be at home finishing a job but I didn't feel like it... so here I am..."  
Robbe sits down back, this time next to him, and Sander gets a little agitated...no, it's not really agitation... Robbe, meanwhile, says naturally:

"I, on the other hand, am working on the restoration of a statue that is driving me mad, it is full of details... “

"Wow, your work is really interesting “  
Sander, actually know for more than a month what work does. Do you want to continue this staging?

"Let's say unusual..."

"Let's say yes: what are you saying? You disappeared, I haven't even been able to thank you for the beer..."

"I never come to this place, this is the second time. I come here when I come back from the skatepark or when I meet someone the first time: my friends know that I am gay, but I still prefer to make my first approaches alone...they are adorable but noisy..."

"Like all real friends... So, a skater restoring statues..."  
Thinking about how chameleon-like his new friend intrigued him.  
But the shadow of his behavior did not leave him completely calm.

"Yeah. Anyway, if you want, you can come to my place of work with your girlfriend, if you like, I don't mind a little company from time to time...I often find myself talking to statues...strange, isn't it?"  
And as he says them he takes a napkin and writes down the address of his place of work.

"Oh Robbe, I talk to the data and the computer, so I don't find anything strange in the way you interact with the statues! And Britt..."

No. Enough with this girl. What has Britt got to do with it now? And why is Sander so irritated when he thinks about Britt? After all, she hasn't done anything wrong... if anything, he's the one who.....

"It's a bit complicated with her..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, in the picture you seemed so happy..."

"We are, that is, we were, I have no idea"

Robbe seems really sorry.  
guilt invades Sander like a punch in the face: Britt and Robbe. Robbe and Britt. So close and so far away.  
So damn present in his head

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be indiscreet... I'm into someone instead".

Sander knows. And how if it knows.  
He Remains silent and listen.

"I believe he is a special person. Usually after all this time I would have asked him out already, but I don't want to lose this habit of talking in the evening,  
I think I really like him. Better to take it easy."

Sander doesn't understand what he is feeling at that moment.  
Excited? Happy? Concerned? 

He smiles at him, trying to do what he would do with Jens, pats Robbe on the back and with an excuse greets him.  
"You made me want to clear my head about my girlfriend. I salute you. Have a good evening..."

"Anyway, the invitation is still valid, okay? Did you get the address?"  
And Sander waving the address out of the club. 

After a few meters, Sander takes his cell phone and calls his friend:  
"Jens, are you home? Can we meet?"

Sander bites his nails.  
Jens reaches him in a few minutes 

"Let's walk"

"Sander, you've never been like this... should I be worried?"

"Jens," says Sander, looking at the horizon, "I think I've fallen in love..."

Jens remains silent for a few seconds as if to metabolize the news well...  
"Hey but that's great! So you and Britt are getting serious?"

Sander looks at him and then takes his eyes off him again and brings him back to the horizon... 

"Jens is not Britt and... or fuck, okay I'll tell you: he's not even a girl. “

Jens has no reactions. And Sander doesn't understand whether this is good or not

"What's his name?"

"Robbe"

"Do I know him? “

"I don't think so. He's a restorer and a skater boy."

"But... how does it work, I mean...you're together... he knows... if you called me it's because something doesn't fit... and don't tell me you feel uncomfortable because he's a guy, we're past this, right? Tell me it's not about that..."

"Aaaarghhhh I screwed up: I met him by chance, I looked for him on an app he told me about and now we've been chatting for a few months on this dating app but he doesn't know it's me and when he finds out he won't be happy at all, he'll probably kick me and then there's Britt and me and her are... I don't know what to do with...".

Jens takes Sander's arm  
"Sander. Can you stop walking for a second? Ok. Now you stop and start listening to yourself. I can't give you answers, only you know the answers..."

"Jens, tell me what you think."

"That you're a screw-up as usual."

"I wasn't talking about that."  
"Sander... tell him. Talk to Britt and clarify. Then talk to this guy. If you don't talk to them everything will remain confused, that's the only advice I feel like giving you..."

"But how can you be so balanced?"

Jens has a bitter smile on his face:  
"I'm not my friend, trust me, and when I've cleared up a few things, I'll come to you and we'll talk about this for sure."

Sander lies on the bed thinking about that day shared with three exceptional people.  
He knows that he must take courage and spit out that huge toad that doesn't let him breathe.  
He just wants to make sure he doesn't miss those precious moments.  
The point is that he can't help but keep on chatting with Robbe... 

"Can I ask you if you would like to see us, without obligation, a live chat..."  
"I'd like that very much, but first I need to clear up a few personal things... can you wait a little longer?"

"Of course I will wait for you.”

Sander and Britt are in bed, naked. That  
Night Britt stays at Sander's but he can't get to sleep.  
It is now dawn when Britt turns and says to him:  
"Hey, already awake?"  
Sander doesn't answer immediately and caresses that girl who has given him so much this year.

"Britt. Are you happy?"  
"What kind of question is that?"  
"No kidding... are you happy with me? Because Britt, I love you so much that I want to know you're happy."  
Britt's getting serious:  
"Sander, you know that between us..."  
"No, don't get me wrong, I don't want anything serious... We're a couple who know how to have fun, but being happy...I am Asking for a while now if we are really happy like that..."  
Britt sits in front of sander and caresses his shoulder  
"And what about you, Are you happy Sander?"  
"I have a great deal of fun with you, but when I think about happiness...I think I've found it elsewhere..."  
"Are you telling me that you have betrayed me?"  
"No, but I am telling you that I have met someone who makes me happy only by knowing that he is close to me. I am sorry Britt..."

Britt kisses him  
"What do you have to be sorry about, being so special? Sander, go enjoy it! I think I'm a bit confused too  
Right now... but you'll always be mine, you know that, right?"  
Their foreheads touch each other. Sander doesn't believe he has ever been as close to Britt as he was at that moment.  
"I know... we have great memories together... “  
"...and no one will ever take them away from us Sander".  
"So this is the end of our roller coaster ride?"  
"Yes I think so, but...let's keep one token each...in case one day we need to do another ride..."  
"I'll miss you Britt."  
"I’ll Miss You too"

The time has come for Sander: that very evening he must tell Robbe the truth. Cost what it costs.

After several minutes of stories he takes a deep breath and begins to write:  
"Robbe, I wanted to tell you something: we can see each other whenever you want because I have clarified some things, but actually we... we already know each other".  
"Really? What are you, a famous person?"  
"No....and I wish you wouldn't get angry, but..."  
"It depends on what you tell me"  
"Okay. Maybe knowing each other isn't exactly the right word but we've already talked a couple of times...I didn't think you did this to me...I know I should have told you right away but I was scared. I...I am... Sander."

Silence. Minutes of interminable silence.  
"You have mocked me. Exactly what did you want? To see what it means to be a gay guy? What on earth did you hope to achieve?"  
"It's not like that... I really like you."  
"Nice way to show me. Do you think this is a game? That I enjoy looking for someone to build something with? You were despicable. I am not a zoo animal. Don't ever look for me again. You have hurt me enough."

Silence.  
Sander doesn't know what to answer and when he tries to write he realizes that Robbe has blocked him.  
Sander panics and starts crying. He realizes that he has ruined something beautiful and hurt someone who didn't deserve it.  
Then Sander does what he does best. He turns everything off and isolates himself. Alone and at Darkness. Because that's what he deserves.


	3. Can we talk?

After two days Jens opens the door to his friend's apartment:   
"Sander! What the hell happened?"  
Sander just runs into his friend's arms and finally lets himself go to an inconsolable cry.  
"Jens...you were right, I've made a mess of things...I told the truth, but too late... I have wounded him...and now I have nothing left..."

Jens holds on to him for a little while, and then he decides that the time has come to intervene.  
"Sander. Listen to this. You have taken a big step. You have told the truth. I think it will take time, but he will understand. He will understand that you did it for him, that if it had been a game you would have just disappeared... give him time... and give yourself time: now try to understand how you really feel for him, if you are really in love. Because when he comes back, if he comes back, then you're going to have to live this story 100%..."

Two weeks pass, in which Sander throws himself completely into his work to try not to think about anything. He searches because it's not easy: how can he not think he has lost the person who made him so real? While he's still thinking about Jens' words, and Robbe's, he goes to the bar to have a beer, thinking for the hundredth time about what had happened and what could be the way to make up for it.  
When he looks up from the glass, he sees two dark eyes looking at him: for an instant everything is clear, and he knows that those eyes would have captured him forever and ever.  
But unfortunately those magic eyes avert their gaze as soon as they meet his.  
Robbe is there with a group of friends. He amuses himself. That's good. At least he is not there with a new guy.   
But he had said that he never came there with his friends...this thought, however, Sander immediately erases it: he has no right to think that. He is nobody to Robbe.  
He goes to the bar, pays for his beer and leaves.

Robbe laughs with his friends, but his laughter is just an attempt not to hear thoughts: Sander is everywhere these days.  
He asked his friends to go to that pub to see him or at least try and make him feel bad. As much as possible. He still didn't know how but he would do it. Sander had hurt him so much.  
When he sees him his heart stops: he didn't expect to see him like that.  
Sander was sad. And he had black dark circles around his beautiful green eyes.  
Robbe didn't want to hurt him anymore. He seemed to have already tried enough.  
When Sander's eyes met his own, his instinct was to run to him and tell him that he would forgive him if he stopped being so sad. But what Robbe manages to do is avert his eyes: he is no longer sure what he wants, he is no longer sure that that boy is a despicable being.  
He looks at him heading towards the door and out.

Sander arrives home and doesn't feel like sleeping; he doesn't feel like doing anything. Because what he manages to do despite all his efforts is to think about Robbe all the time.  
He has a terrible desire to embrace him.  
And start again. If only he could start over...  
He wanders around the apartment. Then he picks up the phone and opens the app.   
Robbe had unlocked it.  
What did he mean by that?  
Was there any hope for him to speak to him again?   
Looking hypnotically at Robbe's profile he realized that the boy had just posted a photo with a napkin. A napkin on a dating site?   
He doesn't immediately understand its meaning, but at least he unlocked it. And he was at the bar. Definitely better than in previous weeks.  
He didn't think he could miss a person so much.   
Now it was better to take a shower, go to bed and try to sleep. He had already lost too many hours of sleep.  
When he opened the drawer to get a sweatshirt, his eyes fell on the napkin on which Robbe had written the address of where he worked.  
In his mind everything becomes clear: the napkin!  
"The address of his place of work! Here is the photo! But then...do you want me to throw it away, or do you want me to go to him?"  
It doesn't matter, this is a possibility that he can't let slip away.

Sander is holding the napkin in his hands: in his mind he materializes that evening: the boy remembers every frame of what happened with Robbe and understands, at last clearly and decides that that evening he had already chosen Robbe as his person. 

Robbe returns home. Sander's sad face doesn't want to go out of his mind: what if he was the cause of those dark circles under his eyes? What if Sander was really interested in him?   
He opens the app.  
He looks at Sander's profile that he had blocked immediately after learning the truth and decides to unblock it.   
But he feels that it is not enough for him.   
Now he wants to know why his eyes were flushed and his look lost.   
He has no intention of talking to him. Concerned, yes, but Robbe still hadn't swallowed Sander's behavior.  
Perhaps if he published something symbolic, Sander could have contacted him.  
Returning with his mind back to their conversations, Robbe perhaps finds something and publishes the photo of a napkin in the bar.

The next morning Sander cannot wait and heads to the atelier where Robbe works.   
He didn't want to think about anything, organizing what he had to say would make him even more excited.  
When he enters he finds Robbe intent on studying the knuckles of a marble hand.  
He looks like an angel leaning on a statue: but how could he let him slip away?  
When Robbe raises his head, their glances meet and the silence that falls between them is full of things that must be put in order.

Robbe did not expect to see him, let alone see him in the morning, so early in the morning and then like this, without warning, so the first thing that comes to his mind to say is:  
"What the hell are you doing here?"  
Sander has a few minutes to say everything and leave. He needs to be honest: with himself and for Robbe.

"I have something to tell you. Give me 5 minutes and then I will disappear."  
Robbe remains silent and Sander takes him for a yes.

"When we first saw each other you were a storm of joy that fell on an evening that had not been born under a good star.  
But there I still didn't realize how much I needed to be under that storm.  
When I downloaded the app I was with Britt and while she was sleeping I looked for you on the socials: but I had too little information to find you, so I downloaded the app: but to navigate I had to sign up so I chose random names and when I found you it was you... transparent and beautiful.  
Robbe... I was... I don't know why I didn't tell you right away; I could tell you out of fear, to have an extra thrill, I really don't know.   
What never crossed my mind is to make fun of you. Because deep down I immediately understood that you were a pure and special person.   
I knew that I would hurt you, but the more we talked the more impossible it became for me to have the balls to tell you that it was me, that I really wanted to know you, that I really liked you. And a lot.   
That's why I left Britt, because I was only happy when I was talking to you.  
You made me happy Robbe: it's the first time I feel this for someone.  
I don't know how to say I'm sorry for what I did to you.  
But know that when you told me that you liked the person you were chatting with, my heart was filled with love.  
I never laughed at you. Because for me you are a creature to be taken seriously. I knew it before but now I know it for sure. Forgive me. I'm going to get out of your hair now...if you change your mind, you know where to find me."


	4. Teach me how

Robbe remains alone. He rests his head on the cold hand he was studying and lets Sander's words reach him in the place he has always dedicated to him: in his heart.  
What should he do now?

Sander returns home. He returns to work but now the weight it had on the shoulders is no longer there.   
Robbe was right: telling the truth, however complicated the situation, lightens your existence.  
Sander is certain that Robbe will need time...but a little hope has been kindled in him.  
He threw himself body and soul into his project: he had to catch up with the program, since the delivery would be soon.  
Jens visits him in the afternoon to see how things are going:

"Hey Sander, how are you doing  
Better?"  
Sander always with his hair ruffled and his face concentrated tells Jens the  
Latest news.

"I would say that there have been some interesting developments..."  
"I don't know, Jens, I don't want to delude myself...but having told him the whole truth by looking at him has taken an incredible weight off my mind. Now I'll wait, Robbe deserves to be waited for, really."

Jens looks at him tenderly: he had never seen his friend so convinced and so in love.  
"I have someone I'm waiting for too, you know... but do you mind if I wait a little longer?  
before telling you about it? It's still all alone in my head..."

Sander smiles. "Whenever you want Jens, I'm here, okay?"

A few days later, right after handing over the job, Sander picks up the phone and realizes that Robbe had sent him a message:  
"You can come by the studio tonight after dinner. I need to talk to you. “

Sander typed the word OK with his hands shaking: he wasn't expecting a message from him and he certainly wasn't expecting it so quickly.

That evening, as he reaches Robbe, he imagines dozens of different scenarios. But all end in the worst way.  
On time, his heart is in a thousand. Was he supposed to bring him something? No, no gift. Nothing. That would not have been a date.  
He found it dusty, but always beautiful, much more beautiful than those statues that the brunette loved so much.  
Robbe approaches him while remaining at a safe distance. 

"Hello."  
Just to hear him say hello was worth the way.   
"Hey hello"  
The two boys look at each other for a few minutes. The tension is very high.  
Robbe moves first, trying in vain to get the dust off his shirt.  
"Sander. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks also for talking to me sincerely, I really appreciated it, but that doesn't erase the fact that you hurt me so much.  
It was the only thing you knew about me, and yet you preferred to lie.  
The fact remains that I would like us to give ourselves a chance at least as friends".

Sander should have been disappointed. Instead he is happy.   
He looks at him. Look at that boy who in such a short time has become part of his existence by penetrating every single cell of his being.  
"And... what can two friends do tonight?"  
He did it, he took the step he had to.  
Robbe seems relieved:  
"Let me get cleaned up and we'll go for a beer. Wait for me here."  
Suddenly that place full of cold rock and strangely placed lights looks cozy and pretty.

The bar is located a few minutes from the atelier but the boys do it in silence.   
Everything is new for both of them.  
Here is their usual bar: a beer and a long talk. 

Seeing Robbe's face talking about his work with tears in his eyes for the emotion makes Sander fall even more in love.   
The tension melts.  
They greet each other outside the bar.  
"It was a beautiful evening Sander... I'm going home now... I have to go back early tomorrow morning or I'll never finish the restoration this time... we’ll talk soon ok?"

"I'm waiting for your message.  
"Okay... night Sander.  
"Good night Robbe, rest well..."

Sander is really happy. He had not lost Robbe. Robbe was still there. He saw him smile again... he didn't think he had the chance to hope again. 

The evenings together increase: they all resemble each other, and yet in each of them Robbe comes a little closer: a hand touching his arm, a pat on the shoulder... Sander must hold himself back in those moments because he would like so much to hug him and pull him to himself...but he can do no wrong. He doesn't want to ruin everything.  
In addition to going out more and more frequently, they call each other after work, so as to know how the day had gone. Days become weeks and weeks become...months.

One evening Robbe invites Sander to dinner.   
"Pizza and soccer?   
A message like that came out of nowhere.   
Something Sander was not expecting but  
That he wanted for a long time.  
"Pizza and soccer it is... but you'll have to explain a lot of things to me because I'm not a fan of soccer."  
"Then you will be my first pupil."

Sander arrives with some beer at Robbe's apartment.  
The air smells of pizza.  
"But... did you make it yourself? “  
Robbe laughs  
"I have important friendships in Italy... no joke, I spent many summers in Italy and I learned some tricks to make a decent pizza at home".

"What can I do to help you?"  
Sander feels strangely relaxed even though it is the first time in the house of "his" Robbe.  
"So: the pizza will be ready in about ten minutes and the game will start in 15 minutes: would you like to eat on the floor? I have always seen games like this"  
Sander inflates the chest in a funny way: I did years in the scouts... I love to eat on the floor!"

While eating, Sander tries to concentrate to understand a fundamental rule:  
"So that's offside?"  
"No, Sander, god you're hopeless: the referee whistled because there was  
a hand foul in the area and there will be  
a penalty..."

While saying so, Robbe supports the  
his hand on Sander's. The feeling is intense for both of them who look at each other for interminable moments, until it is the audience in the stands that dissipates the tension between them.  
Sander immediately thinks that Robbe will take away his hand, instead leaves everything as it is, in fact, try to position it better and within a few minutes their fingers intertwine.  
They stay like that for the remaining 45 minutes while Sander continues at that point unnecessarily, too caught up in that good feeling, to learn the rules of soccer.

At the end of the game they are still talking on the floor, mocking Sander's ability to confuse the  
basic rules of the most famous sport in the world.  
"I'll learn, you'll see... it seems I have the best teacher on the square!"  
"Come on Sander, don't make fun of me!"  
"Hey, I'll have to defend myself!!!"  
When the laughter dies down Sander decides to go home.  
"Thanks for the pizza, the lesson and...come here..."

Sander hugs him for a few seconds and then smiles and says good night.

Robbe closes the door. He hopes that the feeling of still being in Sander's arms does not disappear during his sleep.


	5. Embrace me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little chapter before ending this story   
> Just to prepare for wtfock season4... enjoy!

A few days later Sander receives an exciting job advertisement: his project had been so successful that he will have to go and explain it in a prestigious university in the capital: it will be 7  
intense days, so that evening he warns Robbe that he will be away on business for a week and that it will be crazy days but he will do everything he can to make himself heard.  
"Sander is a good opportunity!"  
"It will be 7 days non-stop, I will have to repeat the same things dozens and dozens of times... but I assure you that I will continue to study football, okay?"  
"7 days? WoW..."  
Robbe's voice doesn't convince the boy   
"Robbe... are you okay?"  
Robbe would not want to give voice to what he feels, but the words come out without him being able to stop them  
"Yes, yes, only...these will be strange days...by now I had become accustomed to seeing you often..."

Sander can't believe what is he hearing: Is Robbe saying that he will miss him? If it was true even only as a friend...   
"See you tonight for a pre-departure beer?"

That evening Robbe seemed particularly tense: he didn't seem to be paying attention and he couldn't sit still in his chair.  
"Robbe...do you feel like telling me what's wrong?"  
Sander really didn't understand what  
It was happening to my friend   
"Yes. I tell you. Let's get out of here though"

Just outside Robbe delivers a package to Sander.  
"Here. See you tomorrow."   
But Sander doesn't want it to disappear. Not tonight. Not before he leaves. He stops him with one arm:  
"Robbe, please stay... please."

In Sander's hands that package trembles with emotion: when he finally manages to discard it, inside he finds a small, white and smooth statue, a pleasure to the touch.  
The statue represented two people, two men embracing each other.  
While observing that wonder with a thousand hearts, Sander crumples the paper where that masterpiece was wrapped and realizes that inside Robbe had written something, a letter:

"Sander... remember when you hugged me? That night was special.   
And it ended in a special way. Your hug didn't come out of my head to the point that I went to the studio to create what you are probably holding in your hands right now.   
I was struck by the feeling that your arms left me.  
I'm still impressed that the disappointment of what you did is moving away from me faster than I thought.   
This little representation is a way for you to understand how I felt your arms around me.   
See you soon. “

He was speechless.   
"It's beautiful...this is us..."  
Robbe could not speak, he did not want to expose himself more than he had already done with that little sculpture.

Sander embraced him. He no longer wanted to think about the consequences. They were there, together at that moment, and that was what was worth more.   
Once the hug was released, Sander touched Robbe's lips with his fingers and moved.  
"Forgive me, Robbe, I know, I..."  
"No... that's not it."

Sander says nothing, he embraces him again: he enjoys Robbe's arms around him and his warm and comforting breath on his neck.  
Then he looks at him. God how beautiful he is. And how much he feels he loves him.  
So he caresses him again with a finger, following the outline of his face and reaching his chin; he raises Robbe's face and lets himself be guided and their lips touch each other.   
After weeks, months, here is finally the taste of Robbe. Here is his warmth. Now Sander and Robbe have become an us.   
The kiss doesn't end, it pauses so that the boys can look at each other and catch their breath and then start again.   
The feeling of a kiss different from the others pervades both and the reason is simple: it is a kiss full of feeling, full of love.  
When they manage to melt from their kiss, Robbe asks them in a whisper:

"So what was it like to kiss a boy?"  
Sander smiles at him as he rubs his nose against Robbe's nose:  
"I'm not kissing a boy, I'm kissing you...and now I'd like to do it again to say good night properly..."

"Sander wait: I have something to ask you."  
"Tell me"  
Robbe's eyes get even bigger  
"Can I come with you? I know you're leaving for work but..."  
Sander approaches, now sure of what he is doing and whispers in Robbe's ear  
"It would be a real pleasure for me, but I will be leaving very soon tomorrow...unless..."  
"Unless?" Robbe's face is full of expectations   
"Unless you spend the night at my place so we can leave without any problems."  
Robbe takes him by the hand, and as he drags him says:   
"Come on, I have to pack my things."

That night while getting ready for bed, Sander feels that the world has begun to turn again.  
Even the moon, full and bright, makes the sky a spectacle; but nothing compares to the boy who has already slipped under the covers. 

Sander turns on the light of the bedside table where he placed Robbe's work and lies down next to him.   
They look at each other smiling, hands intertwined, legs also.  
"I could look at you until tomorrow morning".  
This time it's Robbe who takes the initiative: he gets even closer and caresses Sander who closes his eyes to better enjoy the contact.  
"I wish we were awake but you have a job to do tomorrow..."  
The goodnight kiss is the kiss that confirms to both of them that they are finally together: the tongues no longer shy explore each other's mouths and close together with a known rhythm, Sander's lips merge with those of a new human being. His human being. His Robbe. Finally he can say it and feel it next to him.

These have not been easy days. The work absorbed all of Sander's energies and he arrived exhausted and with guilt for not being able to stay awake and spend time with Robbe.  
"Sander... you're here for work, it's not a vacation... it's ok?"  
And it was true: Robbe only needed to know that in the evening his blond boyfriend would open that door and kiss him, asking him how he had spent the day.  
"After all I'm working too, you know? A few online conferences, paperwork arrangements... the vacations will come and everything will be different".  
Sander carries it with him for life  
"Are you telling me that we will be like this again this summer?"  
Robbe gets on his toes and kisses him gently  
"I hope so"


	6. Please, stay

To return to normality had not been easy: in just one week Sander had got used to the reassuring value of Robbe's body next to him.   
There had been no evolution in their relationship from a physical point of view, but at the same time he had never felt so close, body and soul to someone.  
If that was love as he was sure it was, then he began to understand perfectly those couples he called boring while he was with Britt.  
It’s not boring. It was confirmation. It was attunement. It was something so hard to describe that he couldn't see it, until today, until Robbe entered to complete his existence. 

Robbe was missing it. He missed him like air.   
He wanted to return to the days when he woke up and Sander was beside him: the sound of his breath, the smell of his skin, the beauty of his smile were missing.   
That smile that not even the best of artists would be able to replicate.

Sander found himself in the studio of his apartment intent on starting over with a new project, when Britt called him:  
"Hey Britt"  
"Sander...”  
The girl is in tears  
"What is happening?"  
"What happens is that I finally fell in love. But he told me that he still can't get out of balance...I can't manage without him...Sander... what can I do?"

Sander doesn't know how but little by little he begins to connect the dots.  
"Britt, Honey... Can I ask you who it is?"  
Britt doesn't speak. He can only hear her sobbing.  
"Britt. It's okay. I think I know who it is... if I tell you the name, you will tell me yes or no, okay?"  
"Okay ... are you sure?"  
"Britt, I will always love you. Always. But the person who knocked you out is..."

Jens opens the door. He is out of breath and looks terrified.  
Sander looks at him. He looks at him and smiles. Now he understands why his best friend was so mysterious and suddenly he feels so lucky.   
But now he needs clarification.

“The person you are in love with is tall, a complexion that I have envied since we are children, two eyes with a sincere cut, who now looks at me badly and seems to have seen a ghost.  
Guys, it's all right...   
Britt can you come to me please? Like right now?”

Sander approaches Jens: "Jens... Why didn't you tell me?"  
"Sorry, you were so desperate and I couldn't add any more worries... and then after all, you two have always been Sander and Britt... I hoped it would pass, but it didn't..."

Sander embraces him:  
"We can't decide who we fall in love with, Jens.   
Thank you for respecting my past. But it is my past.   
And I would be happy to see you two together in the future".

When Britt arrives she comes in like lightning.  
"After I kiss you" she says in a breath to Jens and runs to embrace Sander.  
"Baby...”  
"Sander. I had forgotten that you are my anchor."  
"Always. But now you two need to be alone. I am going to Robbe. No cuddling pushed in here ok? Jens leaves the key where you know. I love you both so much.”

"You're not gonna believe this."  
Sander tells Robbe that he was finishing the detail of a flower   
"Guess what's in my house right now."  
"No, tell me"  
"Britt"  
Robbe turns around in a snap. What was Britt doing at Sander's house?  
"Don't be jealous... Jens was there with me... those two seem to have a very, very strong bond..."

Robbe sits on the boy's legs:  
"I've never been jealous before, but you... damn you... "  
and kisses him, savoring the noises that Sander makes when their lips touch each other.  
Sander lets himself be enveloped by the heat that he releases at that moment and puts his hand under robbe’s dirty and dusty T-shirt... But then he stops...   
"Sorry"  
Robbe moves as if suddenly awakened from a beautiful dream  
"About what?"  
"I don't know... we haven't yet..."  
Robbe smiles.   
"Come on, I'll show you something..."

Robbe closes the atelier and takes Sander to another room in which there are about ten white and pink statues.  
"This is where I put the works that I have yet to take a look at. Half of them I made myself".

"Robbe...they are wonderful. I can believe you're talking to them, they seem real, they're full of details..."  
"You watch them, I'm going to go wash up..."

Sander cannot help but caress smooth, detailed surfaces   
The truthfulness of those creations was astonishing: what amazed him the most was to see Robbe come back with hair  
Still wet.  
"Wow. So you do not help me you know?"  
Robbe smiles  
"Do you want to cool your spirits with a shower?"  
"No, I took one less than an hour ago, I'm taking one."  
Sander says kissing Robbe on the tip of the nose.  
"Do you want me to explain how the  
Sculpture?"  
"I am all ears"

"First we have a model. If I have to sculpt a shoulder I have to study it".

Robbe takes off his shirt.  
"Take it off too, I'll show you"  
Both shirtless, the boy explains:  
"See these details? If I didn't have a model I couldn't imagine all these tiny lines".

Robbe starts touching   
Sander's shoulder that after trying to stay in its place, begins to touch Robbe's chest.  
"You are as perfect as the  
Statues that you model...”  
keep your hands away from that  
Body was no longer possible.

Robbe instead continues his lesson:  
"Even here you see? It is not easy to follow all the lines that mark the muscular bundles on the chest and the abdomen...   
his fingers moved gently on Sander's skin; but at that point the boy was so taken by the caresses he received that he took Robbe's face in his hands and started kissing it with a passion he had never felt before: his hands tried to discover every centimeter uncovered, until they reached where they had never allowed themselves to lean.

Finally he could discover everything about Robbe, finally he could see him naked, he could enjoy the skin against his, finally their intimacy had reached the boundaries that they both missed so much.  
Making love in a kind of sanctuary of art had made everything even deeper: Robbe had taken Sander to the end of the known world, making him feel moving and incredible sensations and he was sure that together he would cross those boundaries and reach worlds that would belong only to them.   
Robbe's taste in his mouth and all over his body made him happy beyond imagination.

Robbe had tried to bring Sander exactly at that moment but after that kiss nothing had been more earthly: the rest of their caresses, of their kisses, of their provoking each other's pleasure had something otherworldly.

Waking up in the middle of the  
Night with his blond angel  
next to him after hours of love seemed a continuous dream.  
Robbe at that point whispers to Sander:

"Sander. Please stay.”  
Robbe did not expect his boyfriend to be awake.  
"Robbe...after all the time we have been separated...I would stay with you forever."  
"Then do it...stay with me forever."  
Sander moves Robbe over him:  
"Forever and even more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you want to continue with this story or if I have to write another with these two wonderful characters ❤️   
> Love you all   
> Thank you for all your support


	7. Sander and Robbe

Sander was sitting at a restaurant table. Next to him the brightest and most wonderful creature he could wish for was caressing his hair.  
Sander was happy. As happy as he had ever been. That pure and at the same time explosive happiness that perhaps only children knew.   
Sander held his hand, caressing his back with his thumb.  
Nothing was comparable to the feeling he felt through contact with his skin.

Robbe could not take his eyes off him: Sander had a rare beauty, which contained every particle of his body but was nourished by what his beautiful soul released.

"I am late...and I am curious to know what they have to tell us..."

"What they have to tell you: do you have any ideas, darling?"

"Thousands but none that frighten me..."  
When they arrive Sander is surprised:  
"Sander!"  
"Good evening..."  
"No pleasantries boy, otherwise we wouldn't have asked you to meet us here."

Robbe held his hand: his boyfriend was about to take an important step; sell his project.   
He was so proud of him!  
At the end of the meeting, the deal was done: Sander was in the thick of things.

Robbe was in and out of Sander’s apartment now almost as if he was living there: months had passed since their first kiss and almost as many months since their first time, yet they were not going to stop being so in love.

"I have a plan for tonight"  
Robbe was curious  
"What is it about?"

"Follow me"

Instead of going to Sander's, Robbe finds himself in a hotel room almost as big as Robbe’s apartment:   
"Sander..."  
Sander brings him next to him: "I wanted to celebrate my goal... a little moment of madness..."

Robbe, who had already searched the room, undresses himself under Sander's burning eyes.   
He undresses the other one by himself, and with his hand he guides him towards the enormous round bathtub: while the water flows and the foam rises, the two boys kiss passionately.

"You are my pride, Mr. Driesen..."  
"You are my life Mr. Jizerman..."

"Cheesy..."  
"Realist, not cheesy: what would you have in mind?"

Robbe detaches himself from his embrace and enters the bathtub; Sander follows him and the bath becomes a moment of cuddling and whispering chatter.  
"Earlier, while I was snooping around, I found something in the bathroom cabinet".  
"What?"  
"Massage oil..."

Touching each other was no longer a novelty, but it remained one of the most intense sensations they had ever experienced: massaging oneself with the help of a perfumed oil was making it difficult to relax...   
when Sander starts to massage Robbe, he tries not to forget any centimeter: for about ten minutes he succeeds in trying to massage his boyfriend's body but then things degenerate in a completely unexpected and pleasant way...

"WoW"  
"You can say it ... it has never been so ... intense and ... I'm speechless".  
"Robbe. I love you"  
"Me too. Sander, I love you very much too".

The dearest and most incredible night had just given way to a dawn of pinkish colors.  
"Robbe. I didn't bring you here just to celebrate this step forward in my work... I have something to ask you".

"Oh, God, tell me."

Sander gets up and approaches the large window: he opens it wide and breathes deeply for a few minutes;  
Robbe, meanwhile, was confused: everything was beautiful now what was going on?

At a certain point Sander approaches the bag that contained the computer and then very, very calmly comes back next to the bed.  
He looks at Robbe and it seems to him that his heart is about to explode with joy.

"Choose a hand"  
"Like the game when we were children?"  
"Yes"  
"So... The right"

In his right hand Sander held a bunch of keys  
"Do you remember how much you told me about that villa next to your atelier? How much you would have liked to restore it and live there... but it was not for sale...  
I asked the backers of the project  
To help me in the purchase and ... if you want in the next few days it will become   
Our home..."  
Robbe did not know what to say

"Wait before you say anything I have something else in the other hand."

Sander opens it and on his palm two golden wedding rings shone like stars:

"I have never been so happy Robbe, you complete me and make me feel so lucky and fair and in tune with the universe.  
I don't want to try this with anyone else... so I wanted to do things right: would you give me the enormous privilege of becoming my husband?"

Robbe and Sander. Sander and Robbe   
That morning nothing else was said: only tens and hundreds of yeses.

The future had never been so clear and perfect.

In the evening when Robbe was making pizza in the apartment, the doorbell rang.  
Like a fast and beautiful fairy, Britt takes refuge in Robbe's arms...

"It's not fair that I have to hear these things from Jens: I understand that our two boyfriends are best friends, but I also have an important part in this whole story!!!".  
Britt gets closer to Sander and after having given him a big tongue she hugs him tenderly  
"Have you seen Sander? I think we won't need the roller coaster anymore".

"No honey, we don't need, but I will continue to be your anchor."

"And I yours"  
Jens and Robbe approach the two and crush them in a strong and decisive embrace:

"We are a family." Says Robbe   
"The best I could wish for" echoes Jens.

"When you think that life has taken everything from you, if you look carefully there is already someone who is giving everything to you, you just have to realize it".  
Sander was convinced. By now the fear of being someone not compatible with the universe had given way to an indissoluble certainty: love for a man who had made him discover an infinite number of possible worlds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for all the love 💓


End file.
